Alonzo falls



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A. FALLS.

EVENING MECHANISM FOR COTTON OPENERS, 650. N0 Patented Sept. 16, 1890.

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t A. FALLS. EVENING MECHANISM FOR COTTON OPENERS, &c. No. 436,577.Patented Sept. 16,1890.

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(No Model.)

A. FALLS. EVENING MECHANISM FOR GOTTON OPENERS, &c.

No. 436,577. Patented Sept. 16, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE. A

ALOVZO FALLS, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

EVENING MECHANISM FOR COTTON-OPENERS, 84 0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,577, datedSeptember 16, 1890.

Application filed April 14:, 1890- Serial No. 347,752\ (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO FALLS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in EveningMechanism for Cotton-Openers, &c., of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to evening mechanism for machines for preparingfibers for spinning, such machines including openers, pickers, lappers,carding-engines, 1ap-heads, and railway-heads; and it consists indevices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, adapted toregulate the speed of the feeding mechanisms of such machines accordingto the quantity of material from time to time fed to the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, (on three sheets,) Figure 1 is a verticaltransverse section of the frame of such a machine-as, for instance, acarding-engine-on the line 1 1 in Fig. 2, showing in rear elevation theevenerroll, toggle-levers, collars connected by such levers, the bar onwhich said collars slide, the horizontal rack-bar operated by saidlevers, the gear engaged by said rack-bar, the bent lever and weightwhich resist the depression of the eve'ner-plates and restore the sameto position when the pressure on said plates is removed, and saidevener-plates Fig. 2, aplan of a part of aframesuch as is partly shownin Fig. lpart of a feed-apron, the evener-plates, evener-roll, feed-rollgeared to said evener-roll, said rack-bar, its engaginggear, the ratchetand gearing which connects said ratchet to said evener-roll, part of adoffer, the shaft and gears by which said doffer is driven, afloor-bracket supporting said lastnamed shaft, the eccentric straps androds which connect an eccentric on said last-named shaft with adjustableslides on the pawl-carrying levers which operate said ratchet, and aslide, pawl-carrying lever, and paw]; Fig. 3, a side elevation of thegear on the doffershaft, the shaft from which said gear is driven, thepulley which drives said shaft, said eccentric, straps, rods,pawl-carrying levers, pawls, ratchet, and a bevel-gear concentric withsaid ratchet; Fig. 4, a side elevation of said ratchet and last-namedbevelgear, an evener-plate, feed-roll, evener-roll, its

bevel-gear, the shaft and gears which connect said last-named gear tothe bevel-gear on said ratchet, said rack-bar, the gear engaged by saidrack-bar, and the shaft which carries said last-named gear; Fig. 5, anoutside elevation of the ratchet and adjacent parts of the eccentricrods, the pawl-carrying levers and their pawls, and the slidesadjustable on said levers and jointed to said eccentric-rods; Fig. 6, arear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5 and of the mechanism whichconnects the rack-bar with the pawlcarrying levers and eccentric-rods,said eccentric-rods being in section, showing also in rear elevation apart of the bevel-gear which engages the bevel-gear secured to saidratchet; Fig.7, a vertical section on the line 7 '7 in Fig. 6, showingin side elevation the pawlcarrying levers, mutilated gear, slidesadjustable on said levers and provided with arms having racks to engagesaid mutilated gear, the pawls, parts of the eccentric-rods pivoted tosaid slides, a bevel-gear, a vertical gear se cured on the same shaftwith the mutilated gear and engaging another bevel-gear, and a part ofthe shaft and stand which support said last-named bevel-gear; Fig. 8, asection on the line 8 8 in Fig. 7 through the ratchet, its bevel-gear,one of the pawl-carrying levers, the mutilated gear, and a bevel-gear,the shaft which supports said gears being in elevation, the otherpawl-carrying lever, the pawls, and a part of one of the eccentric-rodsbeing in elevation.

As above stated, the invention herein de scribed is applicable to avarietyof machines, including nearly all the machines used in themanufacture of cloth from textile fibers, and

which act upon the fibers preparatory to the process of spinning thesame. In Fig. 2, how ever, the device is represented as applied to acarding-engine.

A is aframe, as of a carding-engine, adapted to support the other partshereinafter described.

B is a feeding apron of ordinary construe tion, on which the fibers arelaid in the first instance, and by which said fibers are conducted torolls, as feed-rolls, or to a feed-roll and plate of a so calledshell-feed, O indicating such a roll. It is customary, however, in somesuch machines to interpose between the feeding-apron and feedrolls orshell-feed an evening mechanism, consisting in part of a flutedevening-roll D and evener-plates D, the same being pivoted in such amanner as to be depressed by fibers passing between said evener-roll andevener-plates, and each evener-plate being'capable of a motionindependent of the other evener plates, so that a greater thickness offibers passing over any evener-plate will depress that plate toacorrespondingly greater amount. I use an evener-roll and evener-platesof a usual construction. It is also customary to use in combination withsuch plates mechanism whereby the speed of the feed-rolls will begreater the thinner the sheet or layer of material passing between saidplates vand said evener-roll, the

efficiency of such contrivances as commonly constructed being lessenedby the use of belts, which are liable to slip.

Immediately below the free ends of the evener-plates I support a barE inbrackets a a, secured to the sides of the frame A, and on said bar Iarrange at intervals a series of collars a, each of said collars beingprovided with ears e, and I connect adjacent collars by means oftoggle-levers F, pivoted to each other and to the ears on said collarsat f, one of said collars e at the end of the series (at the left of theseries in Fig. 1) being rigidly secured to the bar E by a set-screw e orequivalent means, and the length of a pair of togglelevers being suchthat their connecting-joint rises above the tops of the collars e.

On the joints f of the toggle-levers F rest the free ends of the platesD, so that a depression of any or all of said plates causes the collarse to be spread apart from each other and to cause a horizontal rack-barG, secured to the collarefarthest from the fixed collar, to move awayfrom said last-named collar. The teeth 9 of the rack-bar G engage theteeth of a gear H and cause the same to rotate in one direction ortheother with every movement of the evener-plates.

To the same collar which carries the rackbar is secured alaterally-extending stud e which engages a slot (2 in a bent lever E,the lower horizontal arm of said bent lever reaching toward the fixedcollar 8 and carrying a weight WV, which has a tendency to rock saidlever and to restore said collars to their normal distances apart, andthereby to raise the evener-plates to their normal positions wheneverthe pressure is removed from them. The gear H is fast on a shaft h,supported in the bracket ai secured to or forming a part of the frame A,and at the other end of said shaft is secured a bevel-gear h, whichengages another bevel-gear t, splined or otherwise secured to a shaft I,which turns in a bracket i secured to or forming a part of the frame A.Radial pawl-carrying levers J J have their fulcrums on the shaft I andturn freely thereon, said levers having arms j j, carrying pawls 7' jadapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet K, Which also turns freely onthe shaft I, the fulcrum of each of the said pawls being at aninvariable distance from the axis of said shaft I.

To the ratchet K, concentrically therewith, is secured a bevel-gear K,which engages a bevel-gear Z, secured to one end of a shaft L, and tothe other end of said last-named shaft is secured another bevel-gear l,which engages a bevel-gear d, seen red to the shaft d of theevener-roll, so that a rotation of the ratchet K will rotate theevener-roll D, and the speed of rotation of said roll will depend uponthe speed of rotation of said ratchet. The rotation of the ratchet iscaused by the vibration of the pawl-carrying levers J J, and thevibration of said levers is caused by an eccentric M, secured on theshaft m, journaled in the frame A and in the floor-bracket a in awell-known manner, said shaft m having a pinion m which takes into agear n, (represented as fast on the shaft n" of the doifer N,) as thesame is commonly used in a cotton-earding engine, the shaft on beingdriven by a belt (not shown) on the fast pulley m shaft having acontinuous uniform rotation. Around the eccentric M are placedeccentricst-raps m m*, to which are attached ends of the eccentric-rodsm m in'the usual manner, the other ends of said eccentric-rods beingpivoted at m m to collars or slides O O, which surround thepawl-carrying levers J J, respectively, so that a rotation of the shaftm will cause a vibration of said levers and a The shaft m may, however,be any 1 rotation of said. ratchet K. The rotation of said ratchet ismade substantially continuous instead of being intermittent by the factthat a single eccentric M is used to move the pawl-carrying leverssimultaneously, and that said levers extend in nearly oppositedirections from their common fulcrum on the shaft I, so that when one ofthe pawls j 3' engages and rotates said ratchet the other of said pawlsis making its return movement or merely slipping over the teeth, saidpawls being held in engagement with said ratchet above and below thesame by gravity, the up per pawl by its own weight in front of itsfulcrum 7' and the lower by having a weighted arm j, which extends onthe opposite side of the fulcrum j from the pawl proper, and both ofsaid pawls pointing in the direction of the rotation of said ratchet.The slides O O are adjustable on the pawl-carrying levers toward andfrom the shaft I to vary the angular movement of said levers, the slidesbeing moved the same distance from the center of the shaft m by eachthrow of the eccentric M, and the nearer the slides to the shaft I thegreater the angles through which said levers vibrate and the greater therotation of the ratchet K at each such vibration.

The slides O O are automatically adjusted on the levers J J by means ofa mutilated gear P, splined at 19 onto said shaft I, as shown in Fig. 8,said gear engaging arms 0 0, having racks and securedto said slides 00', respectively, parallel with the radial parts of said levers, so thatwhen the shaftis partially rotated by the rotation of the gears H h andshaft h, caused, as above described, by the movement of the rack-bar Gand evener-plates, the slides O O are moved on the levers J J toward thefree ends of said levers when the evener-plates are depressed, andtoward the fulcrums of said levers when said evener-plates are raised,with the result of diminishing the speed of rotation of the ratchet Kandthe evener-roll D when any of said plates are depressed and ofincreasing such speed of said ratchet and roll when said plates areraised, the variations of speed of the evener-roll being proportional tothe amount of movement of said evener-plates.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of an evener-roll,evener-plates adapted to be moved bya variation of thickness of materialpassing between said roll and plates, a ratchet-wheel, pawl-levers,pawls carried thereby and engaging said ratchet,an eccentric having auniform rotation, eccentric-rods operated by said eccentric andadjnstably connected to said pawllevers, means, substantially asdescribed, of varying the points of connection of said eecentric-rodsand said pawl-levers by the movement of said plates, andmeans,'substantially as described, of rotating said evener-roll by therotation of said ratchet, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, of an evener-roll, evener-plates adapted to be movedby a variation of thickness of material passing between said roll andplates, a ratchet-wheel, pawl-levers, pavvls carried thereby andengaging said ratchet, slides adjustable on said pawl-levers, aneccentric having a uniform rotation, eccentric-rods connected to saideccentric and said slides, means, substantially as described, of varyingthe distance of said slides from the flllGIlllIlS of said pawl-levers bythe movement of said plates, and means, substantially as described, ofrotating said evener-roll by the rotation of said ratchet, as and forthe purpose specified.

3. The combination of an evener-roll, even er-plates adapted tobe movedby a variation of thickness of material passing between said roll andplates, a ratchet-wheel, pawl-levers, pawls carried thereby and engagingsaid ratchet, slides adjustable on said pawl-levers and provided witharms having racks, a shaft.

on which said pawl-levers have their f ulcrums, a gear secured on saidshaft, an eccentric having a uniform rotation, eccentric-rods operatedby said eccentric and pivoted to said slides, means, substantially asdescribed, of giving to said shaft a partial rotation by the movement ofsaid evener-plates to vary the distance of said slide from the fulcrumsof said pawl-levers, and means, substantially as described, of rotatingsaid evener-roll by the rotation of said ratchet, as and for the purposespecified.

4. The combination of the evener-roll, evener-plates arranged to bemoved byavariation of thickness of material passing between said rolland plates, a connected series of togglelevers, the distance between theends of said series being adapted to be varied by the movement of saidplates, one end of said series being fixed and the other end thereofbeing free to move an amount determined by the movement of said plates,and mechanism,

substantially as described, of varying the speed of said evener-roll bythe movement of the free end of said series, as and for the purposespecified.

5. The combination of the evener-roll, evener-plates arranged to bemoved by a variation of thickness of material passing between said rolland plates, a connected series of togglelevers, the distance between theends of said series being adapted to be varied by the movement of saidplates, one end of said series being fixed and the other end thereofbeing free to move an amount determined by the movement of said plates,a rack-bar secured to the free end of said series, a shaft,a gear fastthereon engaging said rack and given a partial rotation by the movementthereof, another gear fast on said shaft, another shaft, a gear fastthereon and engaging said lastnamed gear, a mutilated gear fast on saidlast-named shaft, pawl-levers having their fulcrums on said last-namedshaft, a ratchet loose on said last-named shaft, pawls pivoted on saidpawl-levers and engaging said ratch et above and below the same, slidesadjustable secured to said ratchet, and means, substan-- tially asdescribed, for rotating said evenerroll by the rotation of saidlast-named gear whereby the speed of rotation of said evenerroll isvaried by the movement of said evener-plates, as and for the purposespecified.

6. The combination of an evener-roll, a bar parallel with saidevener-roll, evener-plates arranged between said evener-roll and bar, aseries of collars arranged on said bar, toggle levers connectingadjacent collars of said series, the collar at one end of said seriesbeing fast on said bar and the other collars of said series being freeto slide on said bar, means, substantially as described, of causing saidlast-named collar to approach said fast collar and to cause thetoggle-joints of said toggle-levers to press against said plates, aratehet=wheel, pawl-levers having fulcrums concentric with saidratchet-wheel and extending from said fulerums in nearly oppositedirections, pawls carried by said pawllevers and engaging said ratchet,a shaft having a uniform rotation, an eccentric secured thereon, slidesadjustable on said pawl-levers, eccentric-rods connecting said eccentricand IIO said adjustable slides, means, substantially fieation, in thepresence of t-Wo attesting witas described, of moving said slides by thenesses, this 11th day of April, A. D. 1890. movement of said collars,and means, substantially as described, of rotating said evener- ALONZOFALLS. 5 roll by the rotation of said ratchet, as and for Witnesses:

the purpose specified. ALBERT M. MOORE, In witness whereof I have signedthis speoi- MYRTIE O. BEALs.

